Quick Guide to LAGERS Reporting
The monthly reporting process can seem a bit overwhelming. This page will help you with some of the recurring monthly reporting tasks as well as some of the more common questions. OF course, if you have any questions, please feel free to call your LAGERS Accounts Analyst.
When your employer joined LAGERS, they elected the number of hours an employee must work in order to be eligible for LAGERS’ coverage. Any employee who is working the annual hours elected by your employer must be enrolled and covered under LAGERS. Employees cannot individually opt out of LAGERS coverage. You can locate your employer’s Annual Hours for Coverage in the “Profile” section of Agency Details on LAGERS’ on-line administration system – ECLIPSE.
All enrollments must be completed on the ECLIPSE system as soon as possible. You should not have to make employer or employee contributions (where applicable) until your employees have been employed for 6 full months. However, if an employee has completed 6 or more months with a different LAGERS employer, contributions will be due from the beginning of their employment.
Enrolling in the Correct Departments
Your employer also dictates which departments will be covered in LAGERS. The four departments that LAGERS categorizes are General, Police, Fire, and Public Safety. These departments are treated differently when calculating your contribution rates. So, it is crucial that your employees are enrolled in the correct department.
For example, if your employer has only elected to cover your General department and recently established a Police Department, the employer must elect to cover a Police Department for police officers to be eligible for LAGERS. You cannot simply enroll the new police officer(s) in to your General Department. Once the Police Department is established with LAGERS, you will enroll the new police officer(s) in the Police Department on ECLIPSE.
Your employer will make monthly contributions to LAGERS to fund your pension benefits. These contributions will be based on your covered employees’ gross payroll including overtime and recurring bonuses. Employer contributions to LAGERS are required by Missouri state law and are due by 12th of the month following the reporting month.
Are employees required to contribute?
If your employer has chosen to require employee contributions, these contributions must be withheld from each covered employee’s gross salary and submitted to LAGERS along with the employer’s contributions. Employee contributions are after-tax contributions.
The process of reporting wages to LAGERS is simple. Employers submit a monthly report to LAGERS that contains all covered employees’ compensation via the on-line reporting system called ECLIPSE.
- When: You will receive an e-mail during the 3rd or 4th week of each month letting you know that your monthly wage report is ready for processing. Once you receive the e-mail, you have between then and the 12th of the following month to complete your reporting on-line.
- How: You will complete your monthly wage report online using LAGERS’ online reporting system, ECLIPSE. Monthly webinars on LAGERS’ reporting process are available. We will also provide you with an Administrative Manual upon request. Of course, your Accounts Analyst is just a phone call or e-mail away!
- Why: LAGERS requires its employers to report accurate monthly wages because LAGERS’ member benefits are determined by months of service credit and an average monthly salary.
Wages are reported on a when paid, not when earned basis. Below are the types of compensation reportable for LAGERS purposes:
- Salary – Gross wages including overtime, recurring bonuses, paid time off (vacation, sick, comp time, etc.). All wages received during the month must be reported, even if the wages were earned during the previous month.
- Recurring Lump Sum Payments – Payments made in more than one reporting month.
- Fees – Any fees considered as salary.
- Deferred Compensation – Any employee payments made to a deferred compensation plan.
- Allowances – Regular, recurring allowances received by the employee.
Below are some items that are NOT reportable as compensation for LAGERS purposes:
- Employer payments for insurance premiums.
- Expenses incurred by an employee that are reimbursed by the employer.
- One-time lump-sum payments.
- Salary or benefits paid to an employee for any month they are on worker’s compensation, military leave, or educational leave.
- Short term disability payments administered by the employer or a third party.
You will need to complete your statement of account and make your payment to complete the payment process.
The Statement of Account is where you will indicate your full payment amount and allocate the amount to individual line items. These line items will include your monthly wage report, corrections, adjustments, and more. Keep in mind, you must complete your Monthly Wage Report before you can complete your Statement of Account.
After completion of your Statement of Account, you will need to make your payment. Payments can be processed on-line through ECLIPSE.
Employee Leave Guidance for Employers
Paid Leave of Absence
A LAGERS member will continue to receive service credit towards his or her LAGERS benefit during a paid leave of absence and should be reported as normal on ECLIPSE with no Member Status changes. Paid leave would be vacation, sick, or donated leave the employee is receiving as if they were working their regular hours, receiving their regular pay.
Unpaid Leave of Absence
A LAGERS member will not receive service credit during an unpaid leave of absence. If an employee will be out on an unpaid leave of absence at any time during a calendar month, they must be reported as having a Member Status of “Leave of Absence” on ECLIPSE and a Member Status Date as the date they began unpaid leave. If the employee is being paid vacation, sick, or donated leave at their regular hours, the Member Status Date would be the date the leave time has run out.
When the employee returns to work: Change the Member Status on ECLIPSE to “Return to Work” with the date the employee returned. Wages paid after they returned to work from unpaid leave, working their regular hours, and receiving their regular pay are reportable to LAGERS.
Military Leave
A LAGERS member will continue to receive service credit towards his or her LAGERS benefit if called to active military duty. If an employee is out on unpaid military leave (including routine drills, training, or Task Force 1 deployment) for at least one full working day during a calendar month, they must be reported as having a Member Status of “Military Leave” on ECLIPSE, have a “zero” wage reported and a Member Status Date as the date they began unpaid leave. In order to receive service credit for the time they were on military leave, the employee must return to LAGERS-covered employment within one year of returning from his or her mission.
When the employee returns to work: Change the Member Status on ECLIPSE to “Return to Work” with the date the employee returned. Wages are not reported for that month unless the employee returns to work on the first of the month.
Worker’s Compensation Leave
A LAGERS member will continue to receive service credit towards his or her LAGERS benefit while on worker’s compensation leave. If an employee will be out on worker’s compensation leave for at least one full working day during a calendar month, they must be reported as having a Member Status of “Worker’s Compensation Leave” on ECLIPSE, a Member Status Date as the date they began leave and have a “zero” wage reported. The date entered for the “Member Status Date” is assuming the person is approved for workers’ compensation. If they are not approved, they should be reported as normal.
When the employee returns to work: The employee must return to working their regular hours and receiving their regular pay. Change the Member Status on ECLIPSE to “Return to Work” with the date the employee returned. Wages are not reported for that month unless the employee returns to work on the first of the month.
Educational Leave:
A LAGERS member will continue to receive service credit towards his or her LAGERS benefit if the employer chooses to grant an educational leave of two or fewer years. If an employee will be out on educational leave for at least one full working day during a calendar month, they must be reported as having a Member Status of “Educational Leave” on ECLIPSE, a Member Status Date as the date they began leave and have a “zero” wage reported. In order to receive service credit for the time they were on educational leave, the employee must return to their employer upon the expiration of such leave.
When the employee returns to work: Change the Member Status on ECLIPSE to “Return to Work” with the date the employee returned. Wages are not reported for that month unless the employee returns to work on the first of the month.
